Paradise Lost
Synopsis Wonder Woman returns to Paradise Island to make up with her mother for her rapid departure, only to find the Amazons transformed to statutes. The sorcerer Felix Faust is hold them hostage to force Diana to recover three ancient artifacts. The League fight to save Paradise Island and Wonder Woman's own mother from Felix Faust and Lord Hades. Recap Hurricane Gardner is sweeping the city and when a fire truck goes off the road, Superman and Wonder Woman come to the rescue. Wonder Woman rescues a girl and after uniting her with her mother, rethinks her own relationship with Hippolyta. Wonder Woman decides to return to Themyscira by Javelin, and upon her arrival finds the place in ruins. Exploring, she finds the Amazons have all been turned into stone statues. Flying to the main temple, she is unaware she is being observed by a blue-clad figure. She finds Hippolyta similar immobilized and then spots and attacks the figure. He throws mystic bolts at her and they spar briefly, but he threatens her that the Amazons will remain petrified if she harms her. He identifies himself as Felix Faust, a sorcerer, and he’s looking for three fragments of a mystic relic. He has one and wants Wonder Woman to recover the other three. He uses an amulet to temporarily restore Hippolyta to normal and then back to demonstrate his power. Left with no choice, she is forced to accept and Faust gives her 24 hours and gems that will lead her to the relic fragments. After she leaves, Faust summons a portal and speaks with a mysterious master. Wonder Woman contacts Batman and asks for info on Faust, but doesn’t tell him everything. He proceeds to track the Javelin while she travels to the Museum of Natural History where the gem leads her to an urn. When she approaches it she sets off a hidden alarm and shutters close off the room. She takes the relic from within the urn but a nearby statue of a Colossus animates and attacks. Wonder Woman avoids him but the Colossus grabs the fragment. When she tries to regain it, the Colossus sends her flying but Wonder Woman rallies and reduces it to rubble. Superman, J’onn, and Flash arrive and offer their assistance. Flash and J’onn are off to a South American temple and Flash quickly recovers it, but a giant fire-breathing mystic serpent attacks them. Superman and Wonder Woman track the last relic to Metro Mall and recover it from the foundation. When they touch it there’s a flare of life and each of them finds themselves fighting a hideous monster. The serpent attacks J’onn and Flash manages to hold it off, tricking it into tying itself into a knot long enough to buy J’onn time to recover. He knocks it out and the two heroes depart. It soon becomes clear the “monsters” Superman and Wonder Woman are fighting, are each other disguised as illusions. Batman confronts a Professor Erlich and demands information from him on Faust. Superman catches a glimpse of his “demon” in a reflecting pool and sees Diana for real. He tries to back out but she sends him flying and he directs her to a mirror that lets her see through the illusion. On Themyscira, Faust and his master discuss their plans…and the fact they plan to rule the world. Wonder Woman and Superman are recovering from their fight when Batman calls the team in – he’s found Faust’s apartment and reveals he was a professor who became fascinated with the mystic arts, was fired, and swore revenge on his colleagues. In his journal Faust refers to Tartarus, the pit of lost souls. Wonder Woman reveals Hippolyta fell in love with Lord Hades, who betrayed Zeus to the Titans. Hades tricked Hippolyta into opening the gate to Tartarus – the Gods won and Hades was tossed into Tartarus and Hippolyta was charged with guarding the gate. The key was scattered into pieces – the relics they’ve been gathering. On Themyscira, Wonder Woman brings the relic and demands Faust free Hippolyta first. He does so and takes the key, but prepares to petrify them both but Flash takes the Medusa amulet and the League attack. Faust fires off mystical blasts that are powerful enough to hold off the League. Faust garbs the key but the League regroup, summoning giant plant tentacles to attack them. He teleports to the gateway with Hippolyta and Wonder Woman realizes where they’ve gone and leads them to the gate. Faust is already there, secures Hippolyta, and opens the gate to Tartarus. Lord Hades emerges and is glad to see Hippolyta, but not thrilled with Faust and his demand for payment. Hades gives him ultimate knowledge – pain and suffering as Faust is aged to near-death. The League arrives and Wonder Woman frees her mother, but Hades launches an attack. They are initially repelled but Hades summons an army of the dead to combat them. The heroes and Hippolyta manage to hold their own until Hades lends his own strength. But the aged Faust attacks his former master, distracting him and causing Hades to revert to his true demonic form. Hades blasts Faust as Hippolyta and Wonder Woman attack and Wonder Woman goes for the key while Hippolyta holds Hades off. The energy backlash blasts through Wonder Woman as she tries to destroy the key – Hades closes on her but it’s too late and a vortex pulls him, his army, and a desiccated Faust through the gateway and back to Tartarus. The League is just barely able to get clear and Wonder Woman pulls Hippolyta free when Hades tries to take her with him. In the aftermath, Flash reveals that he still has the Medusa amulet and with the daylight, the spell reverses and the Amazon warriors are restored to normal. Hippolyta honors the League men for their service but is reluctantly forced to exile Wonder Woman for bringing outsiders to Themyscira. Diana accepts her punishment despite both women’s reluctance and leaves with her fellow League members. Episode Oddities * The ropes that bind Faust disappear a few seconds after he shakes them off. * In part one, Wonder Woman enters the Athena Temple room from behind the throne but in part two she enters through glass doors in the entrance that never existed previously. * When Hippolyta is exiling Diana, Diana's bracelets change from silver/grey to gold - look for it when Superman says, "She did this because she loves you." * At the end of the episode, when the League is given the golden leaf halfcrowns (the Greco-Roman design), Flash puts his on backward (with the closed part on his forehead and the open part at the back of his head) and in the next clear shot of him it is on the right way (open part to the front). * J'onn J'onzz seems somewhat selective in when he can use his powers. He phases through several of Faust's energy bolts, but apparently doesn't bother to phase through the plant-tentacles. Trivia * A very small in-joke: The name of the newsstand that gets destroyed by Hurricane Gardner in the beginning of the episode is called Bernie's News. The name is the same as that of the newsstand in the Watchmen maxi-series, although the stand owners look nothing alike. * This is John Rhys-Davies' third time playing a god. The first time he played Thor, God of Thunder for the Marvel shows The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four. He also played Zeus in Goddess of Love a movie starring Vanessa White (the Wheel of Fortune woman) as Aphrodite. * "Hurricane Gardner" is presumably an in-joke reference to the late Gardner Fox, a long-time writer for Justice League comics, and who often used the "split the JLA into smaller teams" format used in this episode as well. Gardner is later given an "in memoriam" in "Legends (pt 2)." * In the Wonder Woman comics, the girl Cassie becomes a junior Wonder Woman of sorts. Her bit about not being Wonder Woman's sister may be an in-joke, since in the comics the relationship between Wonder Woman and "Wonder Girl" has been a confusing one, and none of the Wonder Girl's have been Diana's full sisters. * Flash: Man, you really are from Mars. - Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication, is a book about relationships written by John Gray highlighting the differences between men and women. * The name of this episode could be a reference to the books by John Milton. * Robert Englund was involved in a similar storyline on Married ... with Children. He played the Devil, and Al Bundy sold his soul to play for the Chicago Bears. Here, he plays Faust selling his soul to Lord Hades the (very loosely) Greek version of the Devil. * This character is named after the mythic protagonist of several fictional works - Johann Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange of knowledge (like Felix). * The amulet that Felix Faust used to turn the Amazons into stone had the face of Medusa carved in it. In Greek mythology, Medusa was the only mortal of the three Gorgon sisters. The gorgons were female monsters with hair of living serpents. They were so hideous that everyone who looked to their faces - including themselves - would turn to stone. Perseus managed to slay Medusa by using a mirrored shield with which he could see Medusa without being turned to stone. (Note that Wonder Woman spotted Felix Faust through a mirrored shield in the very same way Perseus saw Medusa). Medusa herself will later appear in the third season episode "This Little Piggy." * As the League are leaving the temple after defeating Faust and Ares, for some reason there is a statue of the Martian Manhunter amidst the crowd. His alien head is blocked by the arm of another statue, but his body and cape are obvious. * When the Flash is dodging Faust's fireballs, (right after he says, "Now you see me, now you don't"), you can see reused footage of the Superman episode "Speed Demons" when the Flash strikes the Weather Wizard. The Flash's costume is noticeably brighter in the brief shot. * It's good to be Voice Director - Andrea Romano is credited at the end as "Amazon Officer," despite the fact she had exactly two words of dialogue ("Present arms!"). * The wand that Flash picks up is capped with a gold disc, which snaps open to reveal an eye as it fires a bolt of energy. This disc is identical to the Eye of Agamotto, a mystic amulet wielded by Doctor Strange, Marvel Comics' sorcerer supreme. The Eye was reportedly designed by Steve Ditko to resemble an actual Tibetan icon representing the all-seeing eye of Buddha. * The Flash is making a pun on two words: 'warlock' and 'Toys R US'. According to Christian traditions, a warlock is the male equivalent of witches (in the pejorative sense) and Toys R US is a massive toy store chain. Quotes Wonder Woman: I am Diana – Princess of the Amazons. I won’t be denied! Felix Faust: Why should I risk my neck when someone else can get them for me. Lord Hades: If you fail me, it’s not your neck you’ll need to worry about. Wonder Woman: (rehearsing her return speech) "You look more radiant then ever." No. "Gone, mother? I didn’t go anywhere. I was in my room. Alone. For eight months." Definitely not. "The world was in peril. Would you have me stand by and do nothing?" Hera, give me strength. Wonder Woman: I’ve got you, little sister! Cassie: You’re not my sister! Wonder Woman: (Looking around a shopping mall) It's like some kind of temple. Superman: Yes, for those who worship their credit cards. Wonder Woman: How could any female wear such ridiculous garments? Superman: You got me Flash: (fantasizing about Paradise Island) Picture it - the sun, the sea, hundreds of women just like her running around and me, the first man they've seen in...oh, maybe forever? Oh and look what I brought! Ice Mochas for everyone! Sweet! J'onn: I fail to see the attraction. Flash: Man, you really are from Mars. (as her sisters are held hostage) Wonder Woman: What kind of man are you? Felix Faust: A practical one. Wonder Woman: I hope I didn’t hurt you Superman: Let’s just say I’m glad we’re usually on the same team. Batman: Don’t touch that! (energy blast goes off) Flash: Oops. Batman: Don’t touch anything. We don’t know what kind of powers we’re dealing with. (all the Leaguers quickly drop what they’re holding) Flash: Whoa – what’s that smell? Wonder Woman: Don’t ask. Lord Hades: Do my eyes deceive me? Can it be my dearest Hippolyta, here to greet her lord and master on his triumphant return from…ah, but you know what I mean. Hippolyta: You have earned our eternal gratitude. Flash: (to an Amazon) Did you hear that? Eternal gratitude. After she hands out the medals, how about you and me taking a private tour of Paradise. (the Amazon scowls) She wants me. J’onn: Indeed. Lord Hades: You dare to challenge a god! Wonder Woman: What did you ever see in (Hades)? Hippolyta: Ancient history. Flash: (being chased by Hades' fire-breath) Whew! Get this guy a breath mint! (examining Faust's apartment) Flash: Where'd he get all this stuff? Warlocks-R-Us?